The Thief of Hearts Returns
by G. Sun
Summary: So the thief who devours hearts returns and our three teen heroines have a huge score to settle with her. It's either she's going down or they are-if Erick will even let them. Read after THE MISSING KIN, TRAPPED IN TIME'S CLUTCHES, SISTER and THE MISSING PARTS, EYE EXTRACTION, SIA, and of course THIEF OF HEARTS
1. Chapter 1

**So after this story it'll be never-ending drama...I think? I hope you like this action-packed one.**

It warmed up so quickly these past couple of days. I had to buy a brand new outfit for this kind of lukewarm weather; I pull up my hip-hugging, black shorts and slip into my flat sneakers. After that shopping trip, I'm broke and should go back to Erick's office to get more money to buy groceries and toiletries. Hopefully he'll be in a better mood than yesterday, he seemed upset by something but it wasn't my place to ask.

From time to time, I think about what Don told me about his old friend Angelica. The more I remember his face from when he told me the story, the further my heart sinks for ever thinking that Don was a soulless human being. The story explains so much about his personality and how he reacts to the things I say and do, and how he reacted to Seth. It must feel horrible to miss a best friend every day, knowing that you could have done something about it, the amount of pain he goes through every day, I feel so sorry for him.

Now in the city, I knock on the office door while wondering if he's in a better mood than yesterday. "Come in," says two voices from inside, Erick's and maybe Mizuki's. How many people are here this early today? When I push the door open, there's Mizuki and Risa sitting in front of Erick's desk. "Hey Mia!" Mizuki greets cheerily.

"G-good morning. What's going on?" I wonder as I take a seat next to Mizuki.

"We are grouping together for another mission," explains Risa ina declaratory tone, looking over Mizuki's head. "It is the thief of hearts again."

"That girl?"

"Yes," says Erick finally, sounding exhausted. "I've been receiving messages about this thief from all over the place and I was able to track her down at last. I've been up all night trying to find her, she's moving quickly between worlds and I told this to Risa and Mizuki already but I'm sure that from the time you first encountered her up 'til now, she has gotten stronger."

"Well trust me when we say this," Mizuki rises from the stool and dramatically plants her foot on it. "We've gotten stronger too, am I right guys?"

"Yes," Risa's deadpan tone never falters, "we are prepared for this round." Everyone sounds so confident and sure of themselves so why don't I? I've been training a little bit when the rainstorm came to an end, especially after that incident with the disappearing man and Don. I get the feeling that something terrible happened to me that day and from then on, I've been training to make sure it doesn't happen again.

* * *

"What she said," I nod to Risa, who I'm shocked that she's just as determined as I am. "We got her this time Erick, for sure." Whatever emo phase she was in before, she's out of it for good. Nothing will stop us from completing this mission-wait what's Mia doing? "Hey Mia get up! We gotta prove to Erick that we can do this. Risa and I have been trying to convince him for forever and we need some backup."

"Oh," she gets up and joins our plea to Erick. "I believe that I have gotten stronger also and this would a good test to see if I have. So please let us take this."

"How do I know you won't fail again? Many people have died after you failed the first time."

"Would we lie?" I flash him my reassuring grin with a thumbs up. "No-trust us young women to handle this. We've all got something special in us." Erick looks away from me and glances at Risa and Mia thoughtfully and then stares at his hands, rubbing them apprehensively. I bite down my lip, waiting for his answer, praying for the right answer. Ever since Hinata fixed my eyes I've been working real hard on my Byakugan skills and they've gotten so much better. Neji left me with some pointers too, and combined with my other ability to stop time, _I so got this_.

"Absolutely not," refuses Erick defiantly.

"So you're gonna let this sneaky bitch get away with killing whoever she wants?" he pauses before he answers again.

"Yes Mizuki." Dumbstruck, I pull my foot off the stool and stare at him quizzically. What kind of answer was that-that's not what he was supposed to say! "Yes girls, I totally trust you, kick this girl's ass," was something he was supposed to say. Did he lose faith in us-I did that mission that led me to Dori just fine and I'm sure Risa never lets him down and Mia…I'm not so sure about.

"So are you gonna let us do anything?" I yell angrily, making Mia flinch. "Anything at all? Why bother telling us you found her if you're gonna hold us back? You're just gonna rub salt in our wound?"

"Mizuki lower your voice-"

"No," both me and Risa say rebelliously, and then I turn to her, gawking at our odd agreement. She adds, "Mizuki has a point Erick, we deserve another shot at her. I do not see what the problem is."

"If she managed to get away while hurting each of you the first time, what makes you think she won't do it again-or this time she'll actually take your hearts. I can't afford to lose you three and giving you a mission you three obviously can't handle will ensure your young deaths," he says roughly, rubbing his temple. But Risa's not having that shit today I can see.

"We are different from that day. You should know better Erick, after what you showed me." Do I detect favoritism? What did he show her and why didn't he show the rest of us? Well whatever, that's not the point, but I really do wanna know.

"I do know better because of that, Risa and my decision will not change."

"It should! Damn it!" I rush towards the door. "Come on, we should go, he's not gonna let us do anything. He wants to treat us like little kids when we're not!" Seeing me open the door makes Risa sigh dejectedly and follow me but Mia takes a step toward his desk.

"Please Erick, I've been through a lot since that day and I really want to see myself and everyone improve. I'm sure that they also have changed since then so can you please let us take this mission? I promise you that we won't fail you this time," she pleads with him sweetly. She's blocking my view of Erick but all I hear is him slump back in his chair and sigh depressingly. Sighs are good, sighs are signs of giving up, Mia must of got to him. I hold my breath until he finally replies.

"My answer is still _no_." Dismally, her head sinks and I know that's over. Leaving the door open for them, Risa and Mia walk out then I slam the door with sheer frustration.

"I can't believe this man! I'm just so-uuuuungh I've never been so frustrated in my life!" Ok that's an exaggeration but it might as well be true. "Aren't you two fuming?"

"You know he can-"

"How can someone be that stupid and ignorant? I thought he trusted us with everything and then he goes on and does this? He has sent us on all kinds of dangerous missions before and now he's not gonna let us do this one? Jesus I wanna wring his lil' neck with his stupid trench coat and-," I angrily continue venting. "I mean you two don't wanna know what I've been through the past couple of days and then when I'm actually in an ass-kicking mood, he has to get all overprotective and unsure. Damn men and their stupid brains and their idiocy and-"

"May I just say that we are right outside his door and he can hear everything you are saying?" Smart Alec Risa points out, which she was going to say earlier but I was ranting and nothing is gonna stop that. "Well shit," I mumble as I start to feel humiliated while Mia grimaces at me.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere else?" suggests Risa.

"I know where, it's not that far from here."

' ' '

"This is where you've been staying all this time Mizuki?" wonders Mia as they sit down on the hotel carpet. "It looks expensive."

"Hell yeah it's expensive but my pay from Erick is what's keeping me off the streets," I say disappointedly. "Where have you been staying?"

"In a small house outside the city," she replies while twiddling her fingers and looking down at her crossed legs. Risa, sitting on the bed, sulkily stares out the window.

"A few weeks ago, I traveled with Erick to some worlds and he showed me how the business works. It is tough on him so Mizuki you should give him the benefit of the doubt. But I agree with you, he should not hold us back from someone I personally have a grudge against." I groan as I let myself fall face-flat on the woolly carpet. She's right as usual, how does she manage to stay so calm all the time? Does she even have an emotional outlet or something? Well I don't know if she's always calm, I've never seen her face before, that hood's always covering her.

"What do we do?" sheepishly asks Mia in that meek tone of hers.

"I don't know."

"We could go look for the thief ourselves."

"How?"

"Yeah Risa, how could we do that, Erick's got all the tools we need."

"When we traveled the worlds before, he gave me at least two dozen chips and I forgot to give some of them back to him," says Risa as I raise my head hopefully. "So one of the chips you have must be the one that'll take us to her you think?"

"I am sure there will be no harm in trying," she says suggestively with a little tease. Mia shakes her head and waves her hands.

"That's the wrong thing to do. I think we should talk to Erick again and maybe he'll be willing to hear us out."

"Like he did earlier? Come on Mia, there's no way he's listening to us," I wave away her goody two-shoes idea and shrug. "Sometimes when you really want something, you gotta do whatever is necessary to get it. So you ready for this?"

"Very," replies Risa, already digging in her pockets.

"And you Mia? You in or are you gonna rat us out?" Mia raises her head and has a pensive expression on her face for eleven seconds and then she lets out a submissive sigh, making me smile.

"I'll do it."

"Alright Mia!" I spring from the carpet and raise my hands triumphantly. "That thief is gonna get what she deserves from all of us!"

J.G.P.


	2. Chapter 2

"Whew, Risa do you think she would be here?" I ask, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead. This is the third world we've been to and if nobody is here then I swear I'm gonna flip my lid. Mia looks exhausted, the world hopping thing is killing poor little kid. She's only two years younger than me and Risa but she's got a little bit of baby fat on her cheeks still so she's like nine to me; she's leaning on her knees and gasping for air while Risa lays down on the dry, cracked soil.

"I do not know."

"Maybe she was in the other two worlds and we didn't look hard enough," surmises Mia tentatively.

* * *

"Or she simply was not there. She travels too so it could be that we are just missing her," I say as I try to dig my fingers through the soil. "She could be here so we should spread out and cover as much ground as we can in this fog."

"Ok that's nice and all," says Mizuki sarcastically. "But splitting up has gotten us nowhere in the past two worlds."

"You have a better idea?"

"Shut up," and with that I remain silent. But she unwillingly agrees and we go off on our separate ways to explore this gloomy place. I am sure if I knew how to understand my powers I would be able to blow the fog away but that time will come soon. The Keyblade is my main priority and when I understand everything about it I will be ready for Mother Nature. I step up the steep slope, being careful not to trip up and when I reach the top, I can barely get a view. Far into the distance there is a camp settlement and the only reason I can see it is because of the burning firewood. That is a long walk from here and I do not think we can make it there at our speed. Besides the thief said she prefers the hearts of the rich because they are corrupted and anyone living down there would not have a lot of money I assume.

I turn around and fold my arms. Erick must have changed since our little adventure, maybe it is because of what happened with me and Sia. It is the first time he has shown some care for us but it was ill-timed. At the ruins of Angel Island, I played with the Keyblade and learned some tricks that can really hurt the thief of hearts. Besides, she saw my face and I cannot allow her the gift of life for that. My face has not been seen by anybody except for Miriam, Clancy, and my father. The cry of a man thrusts me out of my world of daydreams. "No! Spare me!"

Someone is being attacked, I must bring the other two girls here-no, there would not be enough time to save him. I sprint forward and knowing there is danger, the Keyblade appears in my hand in a flash of light. Going down another slope, not really knowing where I am headed to, I jump off the slope and move closer to the shouting. "Don't do it!" pleads the terrified man up ahead. In the fog I can make out a tall, thin figure cowering beneath someone with a slender figure. But as I reach the victim, something crimson rises from him and towards the slim figure; the attacker leaps over him and lunges at me, slowly becoming a well-defined, feminine figure.

* * *

Splitting up was not the best idea, I can barely see anything. I guess I should go back to Risa and tell her that I wasn't able to find anything. She'll be disappointed but at least there are two other chips we haven't tried. This is so sneaky, I hope Erick doesn't get too upset when he finds out. When I look up the dry, cracked slope, a silhouette stares back at me, making my stomach tie itself into knots. I put my hand on my invisible bow staff, making it perfectly visible, and pull it out of my carrier. "Who's there?"

"Oh thank God it's you Mia," Mizuki's voice calms my stomach. "I thought you were the thief. Did you find anything?"

"No, I'm sorry." She helps me get up the steep slope and sighs.

"Why are you apologizing, you didn't do anything wrong. Anyway I guess we have to check out another world. I think it was easier to do what you suggested in the first place than just world hop like this. I didn't find anything either so let's go get Risa." Mizuki is a nice girl when she's not ranting like she did at the hotel room, I wish I talked to her more often. Same with Risa but she's so serious all the time like Don, I'm a little intimidated by her. Mizuki and I maunder around and manage to get lost in a couple of minutes.

"Risa? If you can hear me, answer me!" Mizuki calls out with her hands cupped around her mouth. "It's too foggy and humid for this shit-"

"Here!" and then a loud crash follows Risa's reply. We exchange worried glances and follow the sound of her voice. Eventually we hear scuffling on the ground and once we see two dark figures on the ground rolling around, I can make out Risa.

"Risa, what's-"

"Get back, it is her!" Risa kicks the other mystery girl off and back rolls towards us and springs back on her feet. In her hand she holds a weirdly formed sword that looks snapped off. It probably broke in the middle of the fight between her and this woman. Speaking of the attacker, she cackles while cracking her fists.

"I never thought I would see you girls again, I missed you."

"As we did you evil little witch," snaps Mizuki. "And now all of us are here so we can kick your thieving ass one at a time." The bandit's raven ponytail wags as she shakes her head with an amused expression. Risa was the only one who got to get a good look at her face but now I can barely make out a bit of soil smudged on her pale cheeks.

"Well I'm sure you'd love to do that but let's make this little duel fair-"

"Oho, 'cuz you, the thief running around stealing people's hearts, wants to talk about _fair_?"

"I can choose to leave this world right now and none of you would be able to stop me but instead, I'm giving you a chance to beat me-" she snickers rudely "-I'll finish you three off one by one so I can get you off my back, I can tell y'all are the persistent type. How 'bout one at time you three come at me and since I have a soft spot for kids, I'll let you tag each other out, fair enough?"

"Fine," Risa readily accepts and speaks softly to Mizuki, who looks as though she's about to argue. "It is the only choice we have."

"Whatever," adds Mizuki skeptically, crossing her arms.

"Yes," I say while glancing at my bow staff's carvings. I remember I made her scream before, I can surely do worst. Risa steps forward, holding up the weird sword, "We started first so let us continue first."

"You're good starter meal for my appetite Hoodie Girl."

* * *

I leap over her, her raised head following me, and I rush in with my sword pointed at her head. The thief blocks by crossing her daggers and there we are locked in a stalemate until she tries to stomp on my knee. I jump back and she quickly follows me deeper into the fog. A flurry of blows are exchanged by the Keyblade and her crimson daggers redundantly. Then she deftly ducks one of my swipes and does a backflip away from me. Now is my chance to get her.

I point the Keyblade at her and white Light gathers at the tip and shoots out a thin ray towards her. The thief leaps above the ray and throws her daggers swiftly at my head. With a strong swipe, I bring the daggers to the ground and run towards her but a tearing sound stops me for a second. When I turn, my reflexes enable me to block the second dagger's charge for my face. I forgot that she can move them telepathically. As I side-step out of the way, the pair of daggers attack me mercilessly, leaving me on the defensive. I hate blocking for too long because then the opponent can sneak a move in without me realizing it.

"Don't forget about me!" the woman taunts from behind me. Her foot is implanted in my back as she pushes me towards her daggers' tips. Before they can reach my chest, I hastily slam them down and spin a little on the ball of my foot to avoid the daggers, falling flat on my stomach. Better on the ground than on her heart-extracting daggers; I pick myself up and swing my sword arm around. "You sure you don't want to tag out?" she approaches me slowly with the daggers in her hands and a cynical smirk across her face.

"Not until you are dead, Thief."

"I have a name you know. It's Deidra, not Thief. I only steal to satisfy my appetite for the souls residing in hearts, it can't be helped."

"Return those hearts."

"I can't throw up hearts kid," replies Deidra nonchalantly with a shrug.

"A thief is a thief," I throw the Keyblade at her head and I jump in the air to send a flying kick to her face. She grabs my foot and brings me to the hard ground while still clenching my ankle, which is what I want her to do. The Keyblade reappears in my hand and when I look up at her, I almost stab her hand before she releases her painful, crushing grip on my ankle.

"Risa, I got this, tag me in," Mizuki says behind safe lines. A break might be what I need right now, I need to strategize-I run to her and bring my hand down her shoulder. "Ow, gentler next time, sheesh."

"Your outfit Risa," Mia sheepishly points to the bottom of my kimono, which is slightly torn from Deidra's dagger.

"It is nothing to get upset about."

* * *

Great, now my shoulder really hurts but forget about all that. Deidra the thief rushes towards me with her back arched forward and her blades behind her. I hope what I practiced the other day works. As she brings the first dagger out, the blade pointed at herself, she tries swiping at me, I block with a simple push with my hand and do the same with the other one. "Missed me." With the Byakugan eyes on, I have the advantage here. While looking for the thief fifteen minutes ago with my white eyes, I realized that they can see through anything and a foggy day means nothing to them.

"Byakugan girl again," spits Deidra despicably. "No wonder you can see me so well." I jab my pointed fingers at her white nodes, only to have them continuously blocked by her punches, making my knuckles hurt like crazy. Abruptly she foot sweeps me, sending me tumbling to her feet as I wince from the pain of my knuckles. She tries stepping on my face but I roll out of the way and find my footing again. The only thing that sucks about these moves is that I have to stay footed to the ground, I can't just lose my balance so easily and she knows that. I lunge at her with my palm back and take aim at the central node on her head but Deidra bends over backwards, perfectly avoiding me. I quickly jab her thigh but she easily twists her body-in a way where you have to be a professional gymnast to do that-and I miss again. "Try to hit me this time okay?"

"You bet I will."

"I don't think so because it's my turn now." She tosses one of her daggers at my foot and while I'm distracted with that, moving like light, she sends a powerful kick to me in the abdomen. As everything inside me is rattled, I hold my sides as I purge a little on the ground while she reels her leg back to her. Goddamn I gave her that shot, why didn't I see that coming? "Did you like it? I know I did." I wipe the vomit from my mouth, the trail of saliva-vomit stretching as I bring my arm back. She comes in low and lunges at me while her crimson daggers are cloaked in sinister violet chakra the closer she gets to me.

J.G.P.


	3. Chapter 3

I open my eyes, wondering why I don't feel the daggers in my chest and then see why. "Oh shit," I mumble in disblief. The crimson daggers are an inch away from me but refuse to move. After wiping the rest of my upchucked breakfast off my mouth, I crawl back and stand up to see what's stopping Deidra. Her body is as still as a statue, unable to move with the exception of the chakra coursing through her. I must be doing that thing again where I freeze time-better use it to my advantage while I still have time. Casually I separate her arms, leaving her chest wide open and vulnerable. I've never done this intentionally before, I hope she stays frozen until I can get some good hits in.

I tap three white nodes on her chest before she finally unfreezes and falls back abruptly, now feeling the horrible pain. Although I'm surprised that she's not screaming in pain, it's satisfying to see her like this, I make it no secret. "Was it still your turn or did it just end?" my eyes go back to normal and I can see her uncomfortable, scornful expression.

"You-how?" she struggles as she slowly sits up, daggers still in hand. "Little girl, you're a meal that fights back." Her daggers shine bright purple as she spins them in her hands and tosses them in the air. When she catches them and crosses her arms, the daggers are extended with purple light and are more curved than before. Okay, now she's pissed and is gonna make me do more than throw up. I turn towards Risa and Mia and run.

"Tag out, tag out!" I hit Risa's shoulder and Risa sprints back into the scene. Mia worriedly looks down at me as I get my knees to rest. My stomach is doing all sorts of backflips right now. I think that's just about it for me, if anyone can defeat her, it's Risa.

"How are you feeling?" asks Mia worriedly.

"As if I ate raw steak dipped in expired milk."

* * *

As I charge in, her extended dagger almost scratches my face but I duck out the way and leap onto her, bringing us to the ground. Whatever Mizuki did has slowed her down tremendously. I raise the Keyblade over my head and try bringing it into Deidra's face but she rolls like log to knock me off. "I've had enough of you people already!" she snaps as she regains her balance and throws her extended daggers towards me. Already one is aimed for my head and the other for in between my breasts. She is not going to get lucky again.

I raise my Keyblade over my head and when I slam them harshly, the earth trembles slightly. The blow to the daggers obviously affect her too because she winces and holds her head as if she has a sudden headache. I run toward her, skip over the daggers on the soil and slash her across the face, drawing quite a lot of blood and then uppercut her in the gut, sending her in the air. I whisper "sorry" when I land and in my peripheral vision, I see her plop to the ground like a dead bird that has fallen out of the sky, pressing against her forehead; she pants harshly but makes no other sound as she coerces herself to sit up. Then she does something unexpected-she licks her blood-covered fingers and grins widely as she cocks her head to the side, satisfied with what she tasted.

"Wanna know why I crave hearts so bad? Do you? I think you deserve to know the truth since you've done what other people couldn't."

"No," I reply stolidly.

"Sicko!" Mizuki exclaims from behind me. Deidra chuckles as she starts rolling up her spandex sleeves; the nasty slash runs down from her forehead, across the bridge of her nose, making her youthful face a bloody mess.

"As my world was being destroyed by the monsters called Heartless, my mom was dying. I was coming out of the womb and while my mom was giving birth to me, a Heartless ate her heart. I should have died really, because who wants to be born into a world that was ending? But before I came out, the Darkness took a hold of me too and I came out the same monster that took my mom's heart." Mia and Mizuki gasp and my jaw drops when we see the two Heartless symbols on each of her shoulders. "I was born this way."

"And you will die that way," I say as I start to lunge at her. She runs past me, dodging the attack and picking up her weapons, and when I turn around she's pointing her dagger at some girl, I cannot tell from this angle.

"Your turn little girl." I hear Mia softly whimper.

* * *

Can I really do this? Am I strong enough? Yes Mia, be brave now and make sure you prove how strong you are. I step forward and gulp, bringing my bow staff to my side as Risa walks toward my spot. "Do not be afraid of her," she whispers with light pat on my shoulder and then hides herself next to Mizuki who's still heaving on the ground. "You got this Mia!"

I really hope so-Mizuki and Risa weakened her so maybe things will be easier for me. Without even seeing the Heartless thief move, she strikes me down and the only thing stopping her from crushing my neck is my bow staff in the right spot at the right time. I grunt and gnash my teeth as I manage to throw her off balance by moving my staff to the side. Pushing myself up, Deidra beckons for me to come to her as wipes the blood from her eyes. I run at her while brandishing the seemingly wooden staff at her face but she jabs me in the face easily and then knees me in the chest; I swallow hard and ignore the pain as sweat pours from my head. I block her swift kicks and punches with my long staff, managing to avoid the powerful Heartless' blows. Suddenly she steps back and puts her elongated daggers on her sides, making me lower my staff. "Right in her ugly face!" cheers Mizuki.

"Come on kid, hit me," she says in between pants, part of her face covered in dry blood. She actually doesn't have an ugly face-silky hair, eyes the color of hot chocolate, there's nothing bad about her face at all.

"But you're not-" I stop myself when Deidra snickers and her body posture lowers like a cat about to pounce on its prey. Trying to move quickly yet powerfully, I lift the staff over my head and it should've landed on her head but she catches it with ease and kicks me away while holding onto the now invisible bow staff. She knees it repeatedly and grimaces as she attempts to snap it in half but gives up and throws it to the ground like a crumbled up paper.

"I said for you to hit me!" I take my weapon and with two hands this time I swing the staff like a bat but she grabs onto it. "You shouldn't have come here to face me, you're obviously too soft to be doing this." She yanks the staff towards her body and sends another rock-hard kick to my pelvis; I grunt noisily as the staff slips from my grasp and I drop to the ground, holding myself up with my hands next to the puddle of Mizuki's vomit. When I try moving my wobbly legs, I wince as I reach out for the bow staff. Deidra throws the staff on the ground next to me and stands over me menacingly. "If I die today, I can at least take you with me."

_You're so weak, _sneers mental Seth. _Everyone else can take her down easily but you can't? You make my job too easy_. She's not going to beat me because I have to live to fight Seth, to bring him back. I will do everything in my power to win this fight, even if I'm all cut up. "Oh now you're angry at me, that's adorable," teases Deidra, taking out the daggers. "You can only be angry at yourself, you didn't want to really hurt me."

Mentally fighting through the pain, I force myself up, grab the bow staff and charge at her faster than I originally did. She ducks and side-jumps but it's actually painful for her to move-I catch her grimacing. Her expression is strained and I know I'm tiring her so it's about time I use what I learned from Master Shade. When one of my strikes happens to send her back a few feet, I deftly spin the staff bow with my right hand, creating a wind that pushes some of the thick fog away. My hands join over my head and as Deidra lunges with her daggers, her eyes widened in excitement for what I'm about to do next, I throw the spinning staff at her. Deidra stops the rapidly spinning staff from reaching her by pressing down on it. "A fancy move like that isn't going to do a thing for you!"

"I know." I raise my arms to the bow staff and relax my muscles, feeling my "clean" Darkness and pure Light seep from my fingertips inconspicuously. The tips of the wooden staff shine bright colors of cyan and violet and slowly take the shape of curved blades. They reach Deidra's body and the shriek from when I first encountered her rings through the fog; as long as the staff is spinning, she keeps getting slashed by the Light and Dark tips emitted from the tips. Her body convulses violently, especially when struck with the Light tip, but no blood is drawn from the attacks. When I notice the bow staff slowing down, I cease the attack and it bounces off Deidra and returns to me like a boomerang. Deidra collapses on the ground face down, eyes widened in terror and succumbs to exhaustion.

"Way to go Mia," Mizuki compliments as she puts her arm around my shoulder. "You should've told me you could do something cool like that!" Risa joins me on the other side and nods approvingly.

"If I faced her first I would have lost," I reply humbly, reminding myself of that simple fact. She was already tired from Risa and Mizuki, I only got lucky. But to all of our horror, we hear Deidra cough heavily and grunt as she strains herself to get to her feet, blood dripping from her lips and the blow Risa gave her. Obviously exhausted, her knees stay bent as she grips her violet daggers as if her life depends on it.

"I'm not going down that easily kids."

"We will finish you off then," declares Risa. The strange looking sword appears in Risa's hand and Mizuki stands with her hands in the same manner as they were when she was fighting- this time it'll be all of us fighting her together. Risa points the sword in Deidra's direction.

"Your funeral," says Deidra as she sprints toward us with her body emitting a violet gas, especially concentrated around her shoulders. A ray of Light shoots out from Risa's blade and directly hits the charging Heartless-human, ceasing the gas from spreading. She takes in a couple of pained breaths, not letting go of the daggers that have reverted back to their normal form, and rises to feet, stumbling a little as her head is lowered. No matter what, she's not backing down either-that's something I should learn from her for when I face Seth soon. Deidra's eyes bulge out and she brings her hands to her face. The rose daggers fade away into purple mist as she snaps her head back to the sky and screams as if she was holding in all the pain we each inflicted on her. With trembling hands, she tries to bring her hands down as if to lay them across her chest and then abruptly, her human face and clothes are torn off her body by some invisible force. The beautiful face that existed a few seconds ago is now a huge head with yellow eyes covered in corrosive, coal skin, and there are things trying to protrude from her stomach area. As her twisted mouth gawks toward the sky, the shrieks and cries of other people from inside her make me nauseous. Her hideous head is lowered and upon seeing us, she takes a step towards us. "Don't come any closer!" warns Mizuki with a little fear in her tone. The sounds of chains clinking startles me and makes Heartless Deidra emit a high-pitched shrill from her throat and her deformed, asymmetrical body fades away as if she was never here. Upon a tree, there's a person holding an indescribable machine that is grasping a crimson heart with fiery Darkness raging inside.

"Who are you?" asks Mizuki breathlessly. I look at Mizuki to see fear written all over her face-I'm glad I'm not the only one scared. The unidentifiable person jumps down from the tree and strolls toward us, covered in something that looks like a metallic suit, shielding its face from us. Now that the person is out of the fog, I can make out the grappling hook gun in his hand, holding Deidra's heart firmly. "I'm talking to you." Deidra's heart disappears in a cloud of Darkness, leaving the silent person empty handed.

"What did you do to her heart?" demands Risa firmly, her voice not wavering the slightest bit. The stranger raises the grappling gun towards Risa and shoots the claw out toward us. All three of us get down on the ground to avoid the hook.

"What do you want?" I ask with my hands over my head. "Can you speak to us?" It turns away from us and opens up a Dark portal behind it and steps inside, creating a burst of deflagrating Darkness flames. As the three of us rise and back away from the spreading fire, Mizuki wonders aloud, "Who was he?"

"Or she," adds Risa. "Anyway we need to get out of here-the fire is clearing the fog so we must find our way back to the portal." Something about that person gives me an eerie Seth vibe. Risa helps us escape hastily before the traveling fire can trap us down there. Mizuki and I pant a lot, our exhausted bodies slowing us down. When we reach the top, where the portal is, all of us stare at the wildfire raging beneath us. Then Risa hums and says, "we need to leave now."

"But what about the fire?" I ask, thinking about what that'll do to the already horrible environment. Risa shakes her head and takes a couple of steps back, her hands clenched.

"Do you two not see the message?"

_"Message?"_ Mizuki and I mutter. As I squint at the violet and black fire growing and consuming the trees, I see no writing, only a fast traveling fire. Mizuki puts her hands on both Risa's shoulders and mine worriedly. "Listen guys, let's just go back to Metropolis and tell Erick we got the mission done. We won, she's dead, so let's just be happy about it." But how can I be happy when I feel so scared?

J.G.P.

**I almost forgot to write this story, I was so excited to get the next three stories. I hope this was to your liking :)**


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